A Russian helicopter crashed Sunday in Chechnya, killing all three crew members, as Russian troops prepared for a military offensive in the eastern part of the rebel territory.
The ITAR-Tass news agency said the helicopter hit a Caucasus mountain ridge after a dense fog disoriented its pilot. It did not say exactly where the crash occured.In the Chechen capital of Grozny, two convoys of Russian armored vehicles and troop transport trucks were seen heading to the separatist republic's eastern sector over the weekend.
The soldiers, some of them masked, made V-for-victory signs as their vehicles passed the ruined buildings of Grozny, a city of 400,000 before the war.
Officers in one column, which included light tanks, APCs and trucks full of soldiers, said they were heading for Gudermes, 19 miles east of Grozny.
Russian military officials have said an offensive on Gudermes and nearby Argun was being planned. The two areas, along with Shali south of the capital, remain the main bases for rebel fighters backing Chechen President Dzhokhar Dudayev.
A Russian Defense Ministry spokesman in Mozdok, Col. Oleg Mikhailov, confirmed that a new offensive was being prepared, and said Chechen separatists were taking "urgent steps to strengthen their positions."
The attack would be the first significant military action by Moscow since its forces captured Grozny earlier this year. However, the military appears to be moving slowly for now, pounding Chechen positions from afar with artillery while improving their positions.
At least 1,300 Russian servicemen have died in the fighting that began Dec. 11 when Moscow sent its troops into Chechnya to crush its independence drive.